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Thursday, 20 March 2014

Commissioner To Launch Public Contact Point Pilot

Members of the public in part of Peterborough will soon be able to raise any issues or concerns with their local policing team as they do their food shopping.

Cambridgeshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner has given his approval to a pilot that will see his Outreach Worker and local police regularly engaging with the public at Sainsbury’s in Bretton. If successful, the Commissioner hopes that the model can be adapted and rolled out to other commercial premises across Cambridgeshire.

Early discussions around the location of the pilot have focused on easy access for members of the public in an area of high footfall. The contact point will be open at regular advertised times, with the potential to extend these hours if there is demand within the community.

Sir Graham said: “A pilot will be useful to determine the general demand for interaction, but also the type of facility. What we’ll be setting up initially will be something like a ‘drop in’ to allow the public to raise any issues or concerns either with my Outreach Worker or with the local policing team.

“But we can learn from the pilot what the public want and need and adapt it with the ultimate intention of rolling something similar out to other areas. The future could be very exciting – we are even looking at installing self-service kiosks that could allow the public to contact and interact with the Constabulary at times when the Contact Point is unmanned. This needs further consideration, but I’m very supportive of using modern technology wherever it makes sense. This is all about further increasing the time our officers spend out in their communities.”

Northern Policing Team Inspector Matt Johnson said: “We are committed to ensuring the public have an opportunity to discuss issues and concerns with local officers.

“I hope this new project will provide a convenient drop in point for local people.”

The Sainsbury’s Public Contact Point will be up and running by the Spring. Further details will be provided over the coming weeks.